This Isn't My Gateway Galaxy

I like the Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Ok, ok, before everyone comes at me with their pitchforks, let me explain myself.

No, I don't think it is a perfect adaptation of my favourite video game of all time. I understand most of the criticism surrounding the film, and I honestly agree with most of what has been said. The pacing is relentless, the emotional moments barely have time to land, and much of the quiet melancholy that made the original so special and beloved feels completely absent.

Despite all of that, there was still something magical about seeing this world brought to life on the big screen. Hearing themes I have spent nearly 20 years listening to, seeing Rosalina and the Comet Observatory in full cinematic detail, the Lumas making their trademark sound effects, and one swearing and all, awakened something in me that immediately took me back to the feelings I got playing this game for the first time at 5 years old.

What surprises me, however, is that there is one aspect of the film I rarely see discussed properly, despite it being one of the most important parts of both the game and the movie, even if they look completely different.

Gateway Galaxy.

The Movie's Gateway Galaxy is an Airport in Space

Ironically, the movie doesn't ignore the Gateway Galaxy at all, unlike other galaxies that got snubbed. In fact, it practically revolves around it. It's the place where we see Fox McCloud for the first time, R.O.B, Mario fumbling Peach, and it's where Daisy appears in the post-credits. The galaxy serves as the central hub for characters travelling the 'Galaxies', feeling like an airport in space, with multiple spaceships at the Flight Deck, including Samus' Gunship and the Arwing.

There’s a whole sewage system that somehow takes you to a Super Mario Bros 2. Themed casino with Odyssey’s Jump Up Superstar playing. There is a lot going on in the movie’s version of Gateway Galaxy, and this is all in the main area of the Galaxy. We don’t even explore the other 90% that the Galaxy has to offer. We see on the main promotional material that it could be a place of residence for some people, or maybe a playground.

For what it is, it’s a terminal at an airport. I’m just surprised there was no overpriced JD Sports or a Conkdor holding a Starbucks, or a Pianta having an airport pint. I wonder what pint they would choose, I mean, from Isle Delfino, you would think a fruity cocktail, but who has an airport fruity cocktail? Anyway, that’s besides the point.

I Hate the Movie's Version of Gateway Galaxy

And to understand why, we have to compare it to the original and why I love that so much.

Super Mario Galaxy's Opening Still Feels Unmatched

The opening to Super Mario Galaxy is something previously never seen in a Mario game before at that time, cutscenes one after the other showcasing the bombastic-ness of the star festival, quickly turning into a hijack from Bowser and his airships, having a UFO help take the castle and raise the whole thing out into space. Mario clings on for dear life before Kamek and his PlayStation buttons destroy the half-detached land he’s on and flings him into the depths of space.

It’s the most ambitious and alive opening I’ve ever experienced in a Mario game. It sets the intentions off straight away about the scale and scope, with the music in full force, some we hear in the movie too, it tells you this ain’t your ordinary Princess rescuing. We’re in space now. And then…the game just…stops.

The Quiet Sadness of Gateway Galaxy

People go on and on about the quiet sadness of Mario Galaxy, and no place does it better than the Gateway Galaxy. A small planetoid with merely much to do apart from a few meteors, a warp pipe and small patches of grass. The sense of thrill, excitement, adrenaline from the opening goes away in an instant, and you are left feeling feelings of quietness, loneliness, like you’re not meant to be here. It’s empty, not eerily, it's comforting though. You have these three bunnies keeping you company. Mario doesn’t know where he is or what these bunnies are, but they offer comfort after he’s been nearly killed trying to save Peach.

The one word I use to describe Gateway Galaxy is safe. No enemies, no sound effects, no sense of urgency, no nothing. You can chill there and play hide-and-seek for as long as you like. There is something so soothing about experiencing the spectacle of the opening for it to come crashing down to an emotional standpoint.

There’s a feeling of loss, but discovery. Calmness, but Peach has been kidnapped, you’ve got to get moving. The music tells you, no, you don’t have to right away. It’s like recovering after having an accident or an illness. Recovery starts slow, you can’t jump back into action right away, you’ve got to let that breath and settle. And that’s what the game does so well. You’re in space as Super Mario for crying out loud, it’s meant to take you by surprise. It eases you into the space gimmick so well, a playground as such for the gravity mechanics, running around the small planetoid, doing nothing but chase around the lumas as bunnies.

The Movie Loses the Wonder of Space

And that’s where the movie goes wrong. It loses that appeal of wonder, quietness, and mystery. Sure, I enjoyed the vibe of it, and FOX MCLOUD, but I would have rather they turned Sunshine Airport into a Galaxy, as opposed to stripping Gateway from its core identity. Going from one of the most quaint, peaceful, serene locations in the entire Mario franchise to the hustle and bustle of references overload was a slap in the face to me.

It’s not just that, the movie also loses the appeal of space as a large vacuum of nothingness. No quiet reflections, apart from maybe Mario and Luigi talking on the Mandibug, it lost that sense of quietness, loneliness and emptiness that made the original game and Gateway Galaxy so special to me.

The movie doesn’t slow down, when the game it’s based on does it within the first 5 minutes. I would have loved it if Mario and Luigi had a one-on-one moment, maybe later in the movie, on a galaxy akin to Gateway, with this music playing. Maybe similar to Sonic and Shadow on the moon in Sonic 3. It doesn’t have to be much, just a reflection to show these characters are real. That they doubt themselves, maybe have Peach have this when she’s realising how hard it is to find Rosalina. GIVE THEM EMOTIONAL PAYOFFS. We don’t see that in the film at all, not for Peach, or for Mario, or for Bowser or for anyone.

The movie doesn’t slow down enough for any emotion to land. I didn’t mind this in the first movie, but you cannot have the same approach for the SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE. You know, the one that’s core theme is about creating emotion through space, through its music, through the storybook.

Stillness Creates Attachment

The only emotions I got from watching Mario Galaxy were happiness and disappointment. Nothing else. I didn’t have the time to think of anything else, to feel anything else. Stillness creates attachment. When you spend time in a quiet space, you start projecting emotions onto it. You remember how it made you feel. I remember when I first passed my driving test and got into the car for the first time. I drove to the beach, just because I wanted to feel something.

More importantly, Gateway Galaxy serves as the meeting point for Rosalina. She’s introduced in the best way possible. No big music or cutscene, just melancholic and sombre, like who she is at heart. The emptiness of the area makes Rosalina feel mysterious, but she’s not scary or intimidating. She’s a comforting figure, someone you need in a time of mystery. The emotional connection you form with her from the off sticks with you and matters so much later when the game starts revealing more about her through the storybook.

There is nothing I feel about the character of Rosalina in the film. She’s a plot device who is kidnapped solely because one of her Lumas snuck out of the library. There is nothing about her character that evokes the same feelings we had in the game, which is such a shame for a talent and fan of Brie Larson to feel like she didn’t contribute anything meaningful to the plot.

Why Gateway Galaxy Matters

The movie’s modernised Gateway Galaxy will be remembered for its references, for its lively nature, and for being the temporary residence of Fox McCloud, which still feels surreal saying that as a Star Fox junkie. But emotionally, it’s empty. The original Gateway is memorable FOR how empty it is. The identity of the original has been totally lost in the new updated version, and for what its worth, I like the scenes it’s there. It just shouldn’t have been adapted this way, left for some other place else. It no longer understands what made the original so cherished and beloved in the first place. It’s the smallest Galaxy in both games, but it has such a strong impact on me that it remains one of my favourites.

The new one isn’t the Gateway Galaxy I remember, but that’s ok, because I don’t think it was meant to be. This place means something to me and so many others emotionally, and so what if the adaptation doesn’t understand why? Because I know I can always come back to the place whenever I want.